Local chef dreams of opening an Irish food restaurant in Atascadero
Chef Charles Doherty
Carndonagh Kitchen offers Irish fusion food for events and more
–Charles Doherty, from the City of Garden Grove in Orange County, has had a long and storied life well before opening his private chef and catering company Carndonagh Kitchen in 2018, and now he hopes to expand it into a full Irish restaurant right in the heart of Atascadero.
Doherty began his career after graduating high school by joining the military, where he hoped to become a linguist for a language like Italian, Russian or German. However, the aptitude test he took showed that he had potential with Korean, so he went on to study the language and immerse himself at a university surrounded by diverse classmates in South Korea.
Over the next 21 years, the military took Doherty to several different places across the world as far as Germany or as close as being stationed near Washington, D.C.
When he retired from his role as a linguist in the military, Doherty showed his entrepreneurial spark by teaming up with a friend to work on a new company focused on radar technology. They successfully grew the business for two years but decided to sell it.
“We were doing well, but we wanted to do great,” said Doherty.
Around the time that he was moving on from the business endeavor, Doherty was reconnecting with his old high school sweetheart. The two had stopped dating when he decided to join the military, but the love was still there years later and they eventually got married.
The next few years of Doherty’s life were spent working on getting a college degree. Despite wanting to study mathematics, he ended up graduating with a degree in computer science.
With new expertise in hand, Doherty opted to join a genetics company in 2005 called CombiMatrix in Irvine where he was the sole information technology specialist that acted as the company’s technology help desk, was the systems administrator, and built a custom laboratory information system that stores patient data and reports. However, he fell in love with wine country and Atascadero specifically after experiencing how friendly the people were during a vacation.
In 2016 he bought a fixer-upper of a house in Atascadero, which led to a busy year and a half. He would go an hour from Garden Grove to Irvine during the weekdays for work, then head to Atascadero to work on the house during weekends. This crazy commute life came to an end when the company was eventually acquired and absorbed in 2017 by Invitae, who allowed him to work remotely in the same position as before as the main support for the laboratory information system he built that is still in use today as well as other information technology responsibilities.
Yet, his path started to change when he decided to go back to school and was torn between studying to obtain a master’s degree in bioinformatics or attend culinary school. He took one class geared towards bioinformatics and one geared towards cooking, then decided to pursue learning the culinary arts.
“I never knew culinary food was something I could get into,” said Doherty.
His past experience with cooking was learning from his mother, working in fast food around his high school years, cooking for guests, and using an easy-bake oven as a kid.
He started off taking a full load of classes at the Art Institutes, then realized that he couldn’t keep on going to work at his day job and donning the chef’s hat late in the evening for long while trying to spend time with family. So, he lightened his course load and graduated seven years ago. Doherty documented those years through an online blog where he shared his early culinary journey.
After graduating from culinary school, Doherty reached out to one of his instructors about working with them for six months to learn more about the culinary world through real restaurant experience, since they were planning to open a whiskey bar called Bosscat Kitchen & Libations near John Wayne Airport. It was such a difficult experience that Doherty considered calling it quits after two months there, but decided to power through as he found the work just as rewarding as it was hard.
“It’s very much like the military, working in the kitchen, you depend on each other in a different way,” said Doherty.
Carndonagh Kitchen, named after his great-grandfather’s hometown Carndonagh in Ireland, was formally created in 2018 when he moved to Atascadero and obtained his licenses for events and catering. Doherty offers private chef and catering services through his company, offering both traditional Irish foods like stew alongside fusion food that offers an Irish twist on favorites like quesadillas.
A blue cheese salad with balsamic glaze, tomatoes and steak on top by Carndonagh Kitchen. Photo from Carndonagh Kitchen Instagram.
He has worked with a variety of organizations and local businesses like Kula Vineyards & Winery, as well as providing food at local events like First Fridays and recently at the second pub crawl through a pop-up tent.
The Carndonagh Kitchen Tent used at events like the second pub crawl. Photo from Carndonagh Kitchen Instagram.
Doherty prides himself on making some of the best scones around and recently completed a wedding catering job for 100 people, which he got after someone saw his scones on the company’s Instagram.
Traditional cream currant scones by Carndonagh Kitchen. Photo from Carndonagh Kitchen Instagram.
Doherty is also a perfectionist about creating the best food pairing for wine and once went through 18 different cherry sauce variations until he found one that fit the wine.
“You want your food to elevate their wine,” said Doherty.
Now Doherty has his sights set on hopefully opening up a restaurant in Atascadero on his favorite street Entrada Ave. and envisions a welcoming Irish cottage like restaurant with a warm and comfortable atmosphere. He also wants to offer a variety of local wine and perhaps hold a wine dinner every quarter.
“I love Entrada, I think it’s an up-and-coming place,” said Doherty.
